Men’s Tennis Extends Win Streak to Five with 5-2 Victory Over St. John’s

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss men's tennis continued their hot streak of five straight match wins on Thursday, taking down St. John's by a 5-2 scoreline to earn the team's eighth win of the season.

A key doubles point win, followed by swift match victories in singles play helped the Rebels (8-2, 0-0 SEC) earn a key victory over the Red Storm (9-3, 0-0 Big East) as the team approaches the end of its non-conference schedule.

"We took care of business today," head coach Toby Hansson said. "Doubles got interesting there, but doubles is always decided by the smallest of margins in this format. Then in singles, I thought we did a good job at closing the door early on them and getting to the four points that we needed to clinch."

Starting things off with doubles, the Rebels found themselves in three tightly knit matches across all three courts to determine the match's doubles point. Following a Red Storm win in Court 2 doubles, the Rebels found themselves in an early hole and needing two doubles victories in order to gain the advantage on St. John's.

Already riding a three-match win streak in doubles play into their tie with St. John's, the No. 1 doubles pairing of Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt was up for the moment as they were able to snag a 6-4 win to put the team one away from the doubles point.

The team then turned to the tandem of Isac Strömberg and Walker Stearns to get the win, and despite having only played one match together prior to their match the duo was up for the challenge. Battling through a rollercoaster of a match, it was ultimately Stearns that dealt the winning blow, clinching a 6-4 win for the pair and putting the Rebels up 1-0 to start the day.

"It was awesome and it was just a great atmosphere," Stearns said. "Right before that deuce point we saw Niko and Dirk [Engelhardt] clinch their match, so we both kind of knew the moment we were in. We took a moment and said alright, let's not try to overdo it here or try anything special and stick to the basics."

"My service game on the game before was deuce as well, and we just did the same exact thing that we did on mine and it worked again. It was perfect, and it was fun."

Heading into singles action, the Rebels saw their upperclassmen take on the challenge head-on by making quick work of their opponents in straight-set victories.

Senior Simon Junk got the Rebels going with a flawless 6-0 6-0 win in No. 3 singles, earning his fourth straight win in singles play this spring. The double 6-0 sweep marks the second time this season that a Rebel has not dropped a game in a singles match, with John Hallquist Lithen having done it against Tennessee State earlier this year.

After the quick win by Junk, both Nikola Slavic and John Hallquist Lithen followed closely behind to ultimately secure a quick match-clinch for the Rebels, grabbing wins on Court 1 and Court 2 for the squad. Lithen continues to lead the team in singles victories for the 2022-23 season, standing at 14 on the year, while Slavic now officially crosses the 10-win mark for the season.

Freshman Isac Strömberg added a cherry on top of the Rebels' performance with one last singles victory for the side, winning his No. 5 singles matchup with Ryota Kaneda by a score of 6-0, 6-4. The defending SEC Freshman of the Week now improves to 7-2 in singles play this year, riding a five-match win streak into the weekend.

Singles losses by Lukas Engelhardt and Walker Stearns ultimately sealed the match for the Rebels, with the Rebels handing the Red Storm a 5-2 loss at Galtney Tennis Center.

Up Next

The Rebels will now have a day off in preparation for the team's SEC opener on Saturday, March 4, against in-state rival and No. 18 ranked Mississippi State. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m. CT and will be played at Palmer/Salloum Outdoor Tennis Center, weather permitting. The team will then have another day off before taking part in their non-conference finale on Monday, March 6, with the Rebels set to play two matches against Belmont at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. CT.

Ole Miss 5, St. John's 2

Doubles
Nikola Slavic/Lukas Engelhardt (OM) def. Marques/Vila Antuna (SJU) 6-4
De Camelis/Molina (SJU) def. John Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 6-4
Isac Strömberg/Walker Stearns (OM) def. Gustafsson/Dabas (SJU) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
No. 68 Nikola Slavic (OM) def. Diogo Marques (SJU) 6-1, 6-2
John Hallquist Lithen (OM) def. Carl Gustafsson (SJu) 6-2, 6-3
Simon Junk (OM) def. Nishant Dabas (SJU) 6-0, 6-0
Sergio Molina (SJU) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-4, 6-4
Isac Strömberg (OM) def. Ryota Kaneda (SJU) 6-0, 6-4
Giuseppe De Camelis (SJU) def. Walker Stearns (OM) 7-6(4), 1-6, 1-0(5)

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6

For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lukas Engelhardt

Simon Junk

Nikola Slavic

Walker Stearns

Players Mentioned

Lukas Engelhardt

Simon Junk

Nikola Slavic

Walker Stearns

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